


Death and Magic Are Both Hard Concepts to Swallow

by Helen_the2nd_Flask



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga), 闇の末裔 | Yami No Matsuei | Descendants of Darkness
Genre: But Not In All Chapters, Death Eaters, Gen, Head Injury, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2020-01-15 20:38:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18506656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen_the2nd_Flask/pseuds/Helen_the2nd_Flask
Summary: An attack on a nice day leads to all kinds of attention. Attention from their attackers (bad), attention from those who want to protect them (supposedly good), and 'you stepped in something we didn't know could be stepped in so now we're here to make sure you don't step in more of it whether you like it or not,' attention.*I'm tired and should be going to bed but I promised myself that I'd post this first so title and summary are likely to change.*





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up, that head injury tag applies to a minor character, a child minor character, so just a warning.
> 
> ~text~ = a duel monster speaking or their user speaking non-verbally with them.

The sun was shining, birds were chirping, no one was trying to take over the world … yet, and it was the weekend, the perfect time to hang out in the park with friends. Which was what a small group of Domino High students and one Egyptian were doing.

Anzu and Honda were dueling at one of the picnic tables while Jounouchi was trying to give Honda some “words of wisdom” on what to do. Unknown to anyone but Yugi, who was sitting on the table, so was the Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh, though many knew him as Yami or the other Yugi, that resided inside the Millennium Puzzle. The first, and only, time he had tried to give Anzu advice she had refused any of his backseat dueling and given him a look that had sent him back to the puzzle with a shiver. He was still backseat dueling as Anzu had called it but this time only Yugi could hear it who was more content to just let Anzu duel the way she wanted to as Honda and Jounouchi got into squabbles over what cards to play or not play.

Malik watched from the swing he was swinging on, trying to get himself as high as he could push the swing to go. He wasn’t really interested so he turned his attention to the last person in the group. Ryou was under the shade of a tree, laying on his stomach, reading a book. He jumped off the swing on the upswing before it could get too high and made his way over. “Come swing with me Ryou,” he said when he was standing over the other only he was ignored. “Ryou,” he whined as he dropped down to sit in front of the other before poking him in the shoulder.

Ryou startled before looking up at the other. He pulled an ear bud out of his ear as he sat up. “Yes?” he asked.

Malik frowned slightly before pointing back at the swings with his thumb over his shoulder. “Want to swing?” he asked again.

Ryou gave the other a small smile before he said, “Sorry, but if I stay in the sun too long I’ll burn, I’ve told you that.”

“Just a little?”

Ryou shook his head no. “If the sun wasn’t so high maybe.”

“What about sunscreen?”

“I’m wearing some.”

“And you’ll still burn?”

Ryou nodded.

Malik frowned.

“How about I read to you a little then I’ll reapply my sunscreen and swing with you?” Ryou bargained.

Malik smiled. “Alright,” he said, “Can I braid your hair then?” Ryou blinked at that. “It’s fun,” Malik cut in before Ryou could ask. Ryou nodded. Malik happily made his way behind Ryou and started braiding his hair as Ryou started to read aloud. After a few lines Malik made a face. “What are you reading?” he asked as he looked over Ryou’s shoulder, holding the braid he was working on in place. Whatever Ryou was reading was in English Malik guessed but the other was translating it to Japanese.

“Edgar Allen Poe,” was Ryou’s answer, “Would you prefer the Brothers Grimm’s Fairy Tales instead?” he asked as he reached for another book beside him.

“Uh,” Malik caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to watch as Jounouchi shook his head no and made other motions to signal his distaste with that option. Anzu and Honda were snickering while Yugi had a small smile on his face in amusement. “What are those about?” he asked.

“They’re like Disney stories only darker and more morbid. Disney made them more “children friendly” by taking out some of the lesson parts of the story because they were too dark,” Ryou shook his head, “Honestly if you ask me those attributes kind of made them more real and relatable.”

“I think I’ll stick with Poe for now.”

Ryou went back to reading as Malik watched Jounouchi sigh in relief. Malik shrugged and went back to his braiding.

After a few stories, Anzu winning, and starting another duel with Honda, Ryou shut the book and put it, along with his other book, in his bag and pulled out his sunscreen which he started to apply. Malik finished off the braid he was working on with a small hair band that he knew Ryou kept in his bag for whatever reason. Ryou stood and stretched and Malik followed suit. “That Poe guy …”

Ryou nodded with a chuckle. “Yeah, so swings?”

Malik nodded enthusiastically as he started to follow the other.

Before they even left the shadow of the tree there was a series of loud cracks from the other side of the park where a small group of five people in black robes and skull masks seemed to appear out of nowhere.

All the park patrons did was look over and blink, used to the strange going ons of the city. It wasn’t until one of the strange robed people pulled out a stick, said something, and a green light admitted from the stick. The light hit a patron who fell to the ground.

The group of students watched as someone approached the fallen patron and kneeled, trying to stir them into movement. When the person didn’t move a scared look fell over the face of the person who tried to wake them. They turned to look at the robed person, wide-eyed and frightened. The park was quiet, making it easy to hear what they said, “They’re dead.”

Another robed person raised a stick similar to the first and pointed it at the frightened patron who paled and scrambled to their feet. They weren’t able to move in time before another stream of green light hit them in the back and they fell to the ground as dead as the first.

This startled the other park patrons into screaming and running for safety as the robed figures flicked their sticks and cast jets of red and green at those that couldn’t get to safety fast enough.

Honda and Anzu gathered up their cards and hastily put them away and Yami switched places with Yugi, before, instead of running away like everyone else, they all ran into the fray, Malik and Ryou leading the charge.

Anzu, Yami, Ryou, and Malik ran over to help others get away and lead the way to the exits safely while Honda and Jounouchi ran to confront the robed figures. They might not have known what was going on but they did know that these people were bad news. And to avoid the lights coming out of their sticks.

“Hey creep!” Jounouchi yelled as he hurled a rock at one of the figures. It hit the person in the face and stunned the others into looking at their comrade, apparently shocked that anyone would fight back. This moment of shock was enough time for Honda to punch another in the cheek.

While Honda and Jounouchi confronted the robed figures head on with fists and dodged the strange lights, the others were trying to get everyone else out of the park. Yami and Anzu took one side of the park while Malik and Ryou took the other side. Yami’s deep, commanding voice was easy to hear while Anzu helped those who tripped and fell or found it hard to get their baring’s in their mad rush out of the park. Ryou directed people out of the park and Malik yelled out directions while keeping an eye on the fight.

It seemed the robed figures had changed tactics somewhat, instead of firing green and red streaks of light they were just firing red streaks of light and their main targets seemed to be Honda and Jounouchi who were doing their best to avoid being struck. The lights would then usually strike the ground or something else though a few stray red streaks would hit a person fleeing who would then scream in pain. The robed figure would then seem to focus solely on the person they struck until a punch from either Honda or Jounouchi would cause them to break their focus and the person would stop screaming. It took Anzu or Ryou a few precious moments to get them to move again before they would shakily get to their feet and slowly stagger toward the exits again.

It was one such streak of light that hit close to a child’s feet who screamed in fright and then ran over to hide under a piece of play equipment. Their mother saw this and started to make her way over to her child only to be stopped by Ryou. She screamed at him that she had to get her child when a stray streak zipped by their heads a little too close for Ryou’s comfort so he pulled them both down behind a large rock that many older kids climbed on. He reassured her that he’d get her child but she had to stay put. After she gave him a shaky nod of her head that she would stay put he rushed out of their hiding place and, keeping an eye on the fight, made his way quickly over to the cowering child.

He noticed that Honda and Jounouchi were starting to tire but the robed figures didn’t look as if they were doing much better either. He briefly wondered how they kept their masks on as he ducked down under the structure and stopped by the child’s, a girl of maybe not much older than eight, side.

She was crying, sniffling, and trembling in fear. Ryou paused as the sight reminded him of Amane when she scrapped her knee waiting for him to find her when they were playing a game of hide-and-seek before shaking himself from his stupor.

“H-hey,” his voice shook but he kept going, “Your mom is worried about you.” The little girl looked up at him with puffy red eyes, her fear clear for all to see. He tried to keep his pain at seeing such a face masked with a cheery look to reassure her that everything would be alright. “See?” he asked as he pointed over to where the girl’s mother was still hiding behind the rock. The girl followed his finger with a hiccup but made no move to move from where she was crouched. He heard a familiar mumbling noise in the back of his mind. He reached for the Millennium Eye in his jacket pocket. 

He had found it one day after Battle City when he was going through a stash of the Spirit of the Ring’s pilfered items and, probably against his better judgment, kept it on him. He kept a lot of the stuff the Spirit had stolen unless he could easily find out who owned it, in which case he then sent it back. The Ring, despite usually returning quite quickly after being lost, was still missing. Ryou suspected that Yugi had it which would explain it not returning, but he didn’t feel quite right without it nor was he wanting it to return, so when he found the Eye a sense of relief washed over him. He knew The Eye wasn't meant for him, but it was still a Millennium Item and eased something inside of him, though for the life of him he couldn’t put a name to it, so he was reluctant to part with it.

He gave it a tight squeeze and the mumbling cleared up.

~Master,~ the deep feminine voice spoke calmly through his mind, ~What is going on?~

~Some people in robes attacked the park with sticks,~ he answered. That had been another thing he had found out after Battle City, his Duel Monsters and he could talk to one another outside of the Shadow Realm, though it was mostly Change of Heart and Dark Necrofear, though it seemed to be a mumbling noise unless he held onto the Eye and focused on listening.

~I see,~ the deep voice of Dark Necrofear answered back. ~Do you require my assistance?~ she asked.

He peaked out of his hiding place to see that most of the park was clear and Honda and Jounouchi were tiring but still putting up a fight. He ducked his head back and gave the girl a small smile before answering. ~Not yet. The park’s almost clear so we'll be retreating soon.~

~I see, well Change and I are here if you need us.~

~Top of your deck like always!~ Change of Heart’s lighter, more hyper voice called out enthusiastically.

Ryou couldn’t help the soft chuckle that escaped his lips. ~Thank you,~ he turned his attention back to the girl in front of him, letting go of the Eye and slipping his hand from his pocket in the process. “Let’s get you to your mother, now, shall we?” he asked as he held out his hand for her to take.

She wiped her eyes and took his hand. He offered her a soft, reassuring smile and she offered him a wet, wavering one in turn. He eased out from under the equipment and she followed suit. He made sure the path was as clear as it could be before taking off towards the girl’s mother. He kept himself between the hooded figures and the girl to offer some semblance of protection.

They were a little more than half way to the rock when the girl put on a burst of speed and left his side. “Momma!” she called in happiness, her mother coming to meet her. He tried to quicken his pace to keep himself in between the girl and the hooded figures but he hadn’t expected the sudden burst of speed. And he didn’t expect the red streak of light coming their way. He watched as if the events were happening in slow motion. The light hit the girl who was thrown off her feet. She hit the ground, her head hitting the packed dirt with a sickening thud before time started back up at its normal pace.

Ryou watched as the mother had run over and cradled her little girl in her arms, crying her name over and over. He could do nothing but stop and stare at the two. Again, the girl reminded him of Amane and he had failed her. He grabbed his shirt in a tight fist, over his heart, as he started having trouble breathing.

He looked around from his new position between the girl and her mother and the hooded figures. They were so close to getting everyone out of the park, just a few more people on both sides who were a little scuffed up but still able to walk. There were a few more bodies on the ground other than the first two now that Ryou looked. But the most worrying thing he saw was Honda and Jounouchi. The group of hooded figures had surrounded them and the fight looked like it was finally, actually getting to them, they were panting and their punches seemed sloppier then they once were.

A wail from the girl’s mother broke him out of his assessment of the fight with a jolt, his breath coming back to him with a gasp. He turned to look back at them, at some point having turned to fully face the robed figures. His hand fell to his side as he faced forward again, a numb rage filling him.

His right hand slipped into his jacket pocket and pulled out the Millennium Eye as his left hand slipped into his deck case on his hip. He pulled out the top card and, holding the Eye in a tight fist, held the card between his middle and index finger at arm’s length, facing the group of hooded figures.

“I call forth Dark Necrofear,” his voice was barely a whisper as his rage choked it, but it was enough. The card and Eye glowed brightly before a dark mass of shadows emerged from the card and took form.

Dark Necrofear kneeled before him on bended knee. ~What can I do for you my Mas-~ she stopped mid-question as she took in the look of pain on his face. She looked behind him and narrowed her eyes in anger at the scene of a mother cradling her unresponsive daughter to her chest. She looked around the park before her eyes fell on the fighting group. She turned back to Ryou. ~Were they the ones to cause such destruction?~ she asked in her deep, calm voice, though now there was anger in it.

Ryou could do very little more than nod. “Please,” his voice wavered as he spoke, still soft and choked with rage but also hurt now, “please take care of them.”

Dark Necrofear nodded before standing. With her right hand she pushed Ryou’s hair behind his ear and placed a soft kiss to his forehead. ~Please, hold Doll,~ she requested as she pulled back. Ryou could do little more than nod. She transferred her broken doll to him and he held it in the crook of his right arm as he continued to hold her card out in front of him. She nodded in approval before turning around and making her way over to the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised myself that I wouldn't post any of this until I had more written … but I really wanted to post something so … At least the promise I broke was to myself? There is more written but no guarantee of longer chapters or set release schedule, sorry. I just don't want to post everything I have then not post for a long period of time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight rages on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight language but nothing too bad (honestly it depends on what you consider foul language but I thought it would be good to give a heads up anyway).
> 
> ~text~ = talking between duel monsters or talking between duel monster and master

Jounouchi knew they couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Honda and he were good but that was when their opponent was also weaving, dodging, and punching. These guys seemed to only know how to fight using their strange words and their sticks so they didn’t move as much and instead conserved their energy. Which, thankfully, made them easier targets but Honda and he were still expending more energy.

They stood back to back as their enemy surrounded them. They weren’t going to give up till the fat lady sung but Jounouchi didn’t want to admit that time seemed to be closer than he would’ve liked.

He was very surprised when the masked face in front of him flew off to the side and was replaced by a blue fist. He, and everyone else, watched as the arm slowly made its way back to its owner’s side. Dark Necrofear stood there glaring at the hooded figures with a look that could kill anyone ten times over.

In response to their companion getting his lights punched out they raised their sticks and shot off more streaks of light at her. She just raised her gloved, guarded arm and deflected them. Her glare seemed to grow colder and she delivered a snap kick to the hooded figure standing closest to her who she sent flying.

“Hey, Honda,” Jounouchi said.

“Yeah?”

“Remind me to never piss her off.”

“Same.”

 They then went back to fighting, the fight was once again in their favor.

 

* * *

 

Yami was helping Anzu escort a fallen patron to the exit when he looked over at the fight at the sound of a thud fearing the worst. He was quite surprised however to see Dark Necrofear throwing punches instead. He looked around and spotted Bakura standing with his left arm outstretched holding her card while his right hand held something small and glowing and, in the crook of his arm, laid Dark Necrofear’s broken doll. He also saw that Bakura’s breathing was a little on the heavy side.  _‘He needs help,’_  he thought.

He looked around the rest of the park, thankful it was almost clear. “Anzu,” he said, she looked over at him in response. “Can you take care of the rest?” he asked. She looked around before nodding at him. He nodded back before running back, putting himself between the park’s patrons and the fight.

He opened the deck holder at his waist and trusted his fingers to pull out the right card. He pulled one and smiled at the sight of the card. He stood just like Bakura, only opposite with his right arm extended and holding his card between his middle and index finger and his left hand holding the Millennium Puzzle. “I call forth,” he said, voice strong and firm, “Dark Magician.” The card and the Millennium Puzzle glowed brightly before a dark mass of shadows emerged from the card and took form.

The Dark Magician bowed before his master before standing to his full height. Yami smiled at his faithful servant. “Go,” he said using the Dark Magician’s own card to point at the fist fight, “Assist our friends in this battle.”

Dark Magician nodded before turning around and running into battle, readying a spell, preparing to strike.

 

* * *

 

Dark Necrofear had felt the summoning of shadows and looked over to see the Dark Magician running into the fray.

~Your magic is too good for these pieces of scum,~ she said as she punched a hooded figure, ~Don’t use it.~

Dark Magician’s steps faltered causing him to stumble as he approached. He blinked at the blue-skinned woman. ~My Master-~

He was cut off as Dark Necrofear grabbed him by the front of his purple robes and used his body to slam it into another hooded figure. ~I don’t care what your Master said, I was summoned first and this is not a duel,~ she growled, Dark Magician’s eyes widened at her angry tone, ~Your higher attack points mean nothing in the bigger picture here.~

Dark Magician could do very little but nod at what she said. In a duel he had her beat in attack points but in the overall scheme of things her combined attack and defense points were 5000 while his were 4600, she had eight stars while he only had seven, and she was a special effect type monster while he was a normal type monster. Outside of a duel, if she was pissed off enough, and at the moment it seemed she was, he didn’t doubt she could give him a run for his money in a fight and knock him on his rear. She nodded back and released him.

~Get the children out of here,~ she said as she turned back to the fight, ~I cannot watch them and they are tiring.~ He looked over at the two mortals and indeed they did look tired. They were panting and sweating and the blond, Jounouchi if he remembered correctly, barely dodged a spell as it zipped by his cheek. ~Now!~ Dark Necrofear barked causing Dark Magician to jump.

He nodded before turning to the two boys. The blond he threw over his right shoulder and the brunet he held against his waist, tucked into his left arm.

He took off running towards his Master as the teens complained the whole way. He heard his Master call his name as he jumped on one of the large rocks in the park, dropping the two teens behind it. The blond turned on him with a raised fist and an angry expression. He held up his hands in a gesture he hoped they understood as ‘calm down and stay here.’ Once they both seemed to calm down he turned back around, catching his Master’s eye in the process with a look of understanding before finally catching sight of the fight in its entirety.

He was stunned. In the time it took for him to run the teens to safety, Dark Necrofear had completely knocked out two of the hooded figures cold and the other three looked close to being knocked out. He could do very little but blink at the sight before he shook his head, clearing it of his stunned stupor. He nodded before jumping down from the rock and running back into the fray. Instead of readying his staff to cast a spell he used it to strike another hooded figure down. Dark Necrofear nodded at his re-entrance to the fight.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I think I've got some sort of schedule figured out. Short chapters every Thursday (even though it's still Wednesday here for a few minutes) until I run out of material, hence the short chapters. After I run out of material ... well, we'll see when that time comes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight comes to an end ...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One curse word and a lot of pain.
> 
> Violence in this chapter.

Doll watched from Master’s arm as he panted, the Shadow Item Master was holding was humming with power at its side. Doll could tell the youth was tiring but determined, Doll could tell. Doll turned its head toward where it felt its Queen was. The Queen of all Fiend-type Monsters was beautiful in battle, fierce and commanding. She was not a queen who avoided the fight and instead sent her subjects, she fought right alongside them.

And if it was hard to tell, the way she manipulated the purple-clad magician definitely put the inkling in your mind.

Doll turned back to look up at Master. He was tiring quickly, probably because his soul had taken damage before and it wasn’t even whole at the moment, but Doll didn’t know where the darker part was but its Master needed the balance that the darker part provided, no matter how unknown to the light part that it was needed.

And vice versa.

Doll hoped this ended quickly, it could feel all the magic in the air and unbeknownst to those involved the shadow magic and the magic the stick users were using was rubbing each other the wrong way. Doll wondered why, because they were being used against each other maybe? Magic was strange.

^^

Off to the side, a loud crack came from inside the dense area of trees, another hooded figure appearing, unheard because of the cries of battle and that no one was concentrating on reinforcements coming to help.

The hooded figure made their way to the clearing wondering what was taking their colleagues so long, they were just supposed to cause a distraction.

Except their distraction wasn’t working and the figure couldn’t complete their mission without said distraction.

As the figure approached the clearing they were shocked, the group that should have provided a distraction was fighting a tall blue-skinned, bald woman and a tall purple clothed man.

And their group was losing. The figured growled. This could not be happening! They could not disappoint their Dark Lord!

The figure looked around. There were some bodies on the ground but not many, the figure wondered if the group was interrupted before they could complete their mission. They looked around more. A muggle with long white hair was standing still with her arm outstretched. The figure could make out another muggle running away but it looked like they were running towards the exit like a coward. The figure couldn’t see the other side of the park past the group.

The figure growled, this was getting tiresome. They took aim at the scared stiff muggle and prepared to cast a spell.

^^

Doll felt something odd brewing in the wings but it couldn’t see. It maneuvered its body so that it was able to drop its head from the crook of Master’s arm who was able to catch it before it took a complete tumble out of the other’s arm.

Then Doll saw it. Just past the tree line was another masked figure aiming a stick at their Master. Doll let out a wail that could be heard by all.

^^

Ryou looked down at the screaming doll tucked into his arm, the same doll that almost fell from his arm before he was able to catch it. He watched as the doll’s eyes rolled around in its head, looking at him then to the woods close by.

Ryou looked over at the woods and saw it, the masked, hooded figure just beyond the tree line aiming a stick at him. And then it was as if time slowed down again as things happened.

Ryou saw the green light streaking towards him but he couldn’t make his body move, even Doll’s wails seemed to quiet down though he was sure they were actually getting louder. His body had frozen and despite the fact that the spell was moving slowly towards him it seemed his body was moving even slower.

He didn’t know what to do but he knew he had to move, find some way to protect himself. He needed a shield, he needed to run, he wasn’t defenseless, there had to be a way!

It didn’t quite register when it seemed like a cloud had crossed the sunlight’s path despite that no clouds had done so, nor did it register when Ryou’s vision seemed to tunnel, the edges of his vision fading to black as if he was being pulled away from a television screen in a dark room.

It didn’t even register when the streak of light hit him and he blacked out.

^^

They were so close to winning when Dark Necrofear heard Doll’s wails. She looked over to see the green streak of light streaking towards her Master. She watched as her Master was hit and flew to the side, Doll falling from his arm, the arm holding her card fell under him still holding her card in limp fingers. The Shadow Item in his hand he still held in a tight grip.

She stood still in shock for a few moments before her rage kicked in. She ripped the Dark Magician’s staff from his hands and struck the last three figures right in the head with sickening cracks before taking off towards the newest figure. She didn’t have much time now that her Master was struck down before she and Doll were pulled back into the Shadow Realm.

She ran towards the figure with a battle cry, the Dark Magician’s staff held ready to strike down the figure that had struck down her Master.

The figure turned to her and took a step back in fright before disappearing with a crack.

Dark Necrofear stopped and screamed in fury at the loss of getting her revenge. She felt the tug before she was drawn back into the Shadow Realm, dropping Dark Magician’s staff before she disappeared, where she was reunited with Doll.

^^

Malik watched in horror as Ryou was struck by the green streak of light and fell down unmoving. He could only stand there numbly staring at his friend as things went on around him.

It wasn’t until the Pharaoh was calling out ‘Bakura’ as he ran over to their fallen friend that he was able to move again. He came up and kneeled behind Ryou as the Pharaoh kneeled in front of him.

“Is he…,” Malik couldn’t even finish his question as the Pharaoh checked the other over.

“He’s still alive,” the Pharaoh said with a note of relief, “I saw shadows forming a shield around him before he was struck but his eyes … they look soulless.” Malik felt as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over his head. “I think he might have tried to retreat into his soul room to protect himself from being hit,” the Pharaoh finished calming Malik’s nerves slightly.

At that moment Anzu came over panting having helped empty the park of people along with Dark Magician who had retrieved his staff from where it had been dropped before Dark Necrofear had been pulled back into the Shadow Realm. Honda and Jounouchi came over supporting each other, each of them favoring different parts of their bodies but trying not to show that they were hurt or that bruises were forming.

Anzu looked around before kneeling down on Yami’s left side, closer to Bakura’s waist. “Ambulances and police have been called,” she said, “They should be here soon.” She looked over at the unconscious hooded figures. “Umm, they won’t be getting up anytime soon, will they?” she asked.

Everyone but Malik looked over at the figures as well. Dark Magician turned his attention to his staff as Honda and Jounouchi finally let their weariness take over and sat down by Bakura’s feet. Dark Magician thumped the end of his staff down lightly on the ground drawing the teenagers’ attention to him, even Malik looked at him, before shaking his head no, they wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon, he examined his staff again, if they would be getting up at all.

Dark Magician moved around the teenagers before kneeling down on the Pharaoh’s right side, by the Millennium Ring bearer’s head, being careful to avoid stepping on Dark Necrofear’s card. He looked down at her card and felt a shiver down his spine. He remembered her wail of rage and sorrow as she was pulled back into the Shadow Realm after being denied her chance to avenge her fallen Master. Her Master was still breathing but that was a far cry from being alright, he wanted to take something back to her, that her Master … Well, he hoped the Ring Bearer would pull through, he didn’t want to deal with an angry Queen of all Fiend-type Monsters who struck back out of anger. He had no doubt that her rage would draw the attention of other fiend-types and they would be willing to go to war for her. If he could hold off an attack with a good piece of news he would gladly be the messenger.

And if the news was bad … he only hoped that if he told her that her Master had passed peacefully that her rage could be quelled by attacking the messenger and no one else.

“Dark Magician,” the Pharaoh called him and he turned his attention to his own Master. He noticed that the other was holding his card and he could feel it in the air that the other would dismiss him. He placed his hand on his Master’s shoulder. He knew the other didn’t remember their past relationship and therefore they couldn’t communicate since they didn’t have the connection they once had but he had to somehow convey that his Master should hold off on dismissing him. He shook his head. He watched as his Master’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. He pointed at the Ring Bearer then at Dark Necrofear’s card hoping his Master would understand.

“He wants to let Dark Necrofear know that Ryou’s being taken care of,” Malik said as he rolled Ryou over onto his back. He didn’t look up from Ryou’s body nor did he speak with much emotion. Dark Magician nodded, happy that someone understood.

The Pharaoh nodded. “I understand,” he said. Dark Magician let out a small sigh of relief as he turned his attention back to the Ring Bearer.

He was holding the Millennium Eye in a tight hold and the fact that he was able to use it, despite it not being in his skull, wasn’t lost on the Dark Magician. He was the reincarnation of the Thief King of Ancient Egypt so being able to use both items that had been tainted by Zorc didn’t surprise him. He would not hold the child’s past life against him though, it wasn’t his fault.

He placed his hand over the Ring Bearer’s forehead to try and see if he could read the child’s current health status but healing magic wasn’t his forte, he couldn’t sense anything. The child drew in a harsh sounding breath and the Dark Magician drew his hand back, he sighed. While he wasn’t great at healing magic, he was skilled in attack magic and the child had been hit by a powerful spell meant to end his life. He watched as the Ring Bearer’s face scrunched up in pain as another harsh breath was drawn in. He heard the others call the child’s name but he ignored them in favor of setting down his staff. He maneuvered the child carefully as he tilted the other’s head to help with breathing and hopefully any pain the other was feeling.

He winced as another harsh sounding breath was drawn into shaking lungs. He briefed a quick glance at the Millennium Puzzle that held his Pharaoh’s soul before turning his attention back to the boy whose breathing he was trying to help. He had no doubt that if the Shadows hadn’t interfered or if they hadn’t drawn the child back into his soul room and protected him, the spell would have done its job and killed the boy.

Destiny really was a fickle bitch when she wanted something. She would see that his Pharaoh and the Thief King that was manipulated by Zorc would finish their centuries-old battle even if she had to drag the Thief King’s vessel through Hell and back then through the Shadow Realm as well.

He placed his free hand over the child’s heart who’s beat was weak and felt forced as he tried to help the other’s breathing as another shaky breath was drawn in. He looked at the child in his arms, and really, he couldn’t think of the boy as anything other than a child. Maybe it was because of his past connection with the Ring but he could tell the child had been through rough times and that the Ring had kept him from laying down any sort of stable roots that he needed. He felt another shaky breath enter trembling lungs as the heartbeat under his palm continued its forced beating. He couldn’t help but wish to curse destiny for the hell it was putting this boy through but who was he to question destiny.

“Where are those damned ambulances!” he heard the young Tomb Keeper cry. Dark Magician looked up to see the frazzled youth looking around. He removed the hand over the Ring Bearer’s chest and placed it on the Tomb Keeper’s shoulder. Malik looked up at Dark Magician who gave him a weak smile, he had no other way to give the youth hope. He just hoped that it worked. Malik nodded and took a calming breath.

It was at that moment that they heard the sirens. Everyone looked towards the entrance of the park as police cars and ambulances made their way closer. Dark Magician set the youth down on the ground who gave out a harsh sounding cough. Dark Magician winced at the sound but made his way to his feet. After a slight bow to the group he made his way quickly to the trees and hid behind one as the police and EMTs made their way into the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was tempted to make this into two chapters but I wasn't happy with the length of the chapters when I did that and I would have been too tempted to post the second part.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> /text/ = host to spirit  
> \\\ test \\\ = spirit to host

 

Yami made his way over to the tree line where he knew Dark Magician was hiding once things were taken care of. He made his way in, just past the bushes when he called out softly, “Dark Magician?” He noticed a rustling a little further in and made his way over. The Dark Magician was sitting behind a tree with his back against it, a small bird was perched on his hat. He held out his hand and made a small noise, the bird flew down to perch on his hand.

Yami watched as he sat down in front of the other. Dark Magician pet the bird as he looked up at his Master. Yami sighed, the strain of keeping Dark Magician in this world was starting to get to him but he’d pass on what he could before dismissing him. “The mother and daughter that Bakura was protecting are going to be alright,” he said, “The girl was knocked out, they’re taking her to the hospital with a possible concussion.” Dark Magician nodded and Yami went on, “Jounouchi and Honda are being treated in one of the ambulances, no need for them to go to the hospital over a couple of bruises and scrapes. Those that attacked us are going to the hospital, knocked out with broken bones. Dark Necrofear didn’t pull her punches it would seem,” Dark Magician nodded and Yami hesitated. He had saved the information on Bakura until last, why he wasn’t sure, but he had and now it was time to face the music. “Bakura was taken to the hospital, they don’t know what’s wrong with him, and they don’t even know if he’ll pull through. Others that were hit by the same streak of light died, the EMTs think they died on the spot though they still need to do tests, so they’re surprised,” Yami took a deep breath. “Malik rode in with him, made sure to keep his deck and the Eye safe so Dark Necrofear will be close by,” Dark Magician nodded. “That’s what you wanted to know, right?” Dark Magician nodded followed by a nod from Yami. “Then you are dismissed Dark Magician, thank you for your services,” Yami said with a smile as Dark Magician faded into the shadows, the bird took off into the trees as its perch disappeared.

Yami waited a few moments more before standing. Or at least he tried. As he was getting to his feet, his vision started to darken in the corners of his eyes so he sat back down.

/Mou hitori no boku?/

\\\I’m fine Aibou, just the strain of maintaining Dark Magician is all.\\\

/Oh, you think Dark Necrofear will accept what Dark Magician has to tell her?/

Yami sighed, \\\I don’t know Aibou, I just don’t know.\\\ Yami had to admit though that he hoped she took the news well. Having seen what she could do to a few mortals, and magic wielding mortals at that, he hoped that she didn’t take that rage out on another monster in the Shadow Realm.

“Yami?”

Yami heard Anzu call his name and turned to face her, only for his vision to swim with little black dots. He groaned and rested his hand on his forehead. He closed his eyes and hoped it helped.

“Yami?” Anzu called again, softer and closer this time.

“Here,” he called out, or at least tried to. His voice came out hoarse and he was starting to develop a headache that yelling out only seemed to aggravate. He groaned again and laid down, lowering his hand from his forehead to cover his eyes.

He heard crunching grass by his head then the soft thuds of someone sitting down next to him. “Yami?”

Yami peaked out from under his hand to see Anzu beside him with a concerned look. He laid his hand back down. “I’m fine Anzu,” he said, “Just need some rest is all.”

Anzu nodded. “Alright,” she said. She looked back towards the park as she worried her lip with her teeth. Unbeknownst to Anzu, Yami noticed her actions.

“Anzu?” Yami asked causing Anzu to jump. Anzu turned her attention back to him before looking away again. Yami just watched and waited.

“He had the Millennium Eye,” she said quietly. Yami gave a small nod, covering his eyes again. “I mean if he had it why didn’t he give it to you? It came from Pegasus’s head for crying out loud! Why would he hold onto something like that?”

Yami reached out blindly with his free hand for Anzu’s, when he found it he gave it a slight squeeze. “Anzu,” he said calmly and Anzu’s nervous rambling stopped, “If I was to guess it was the Tomb Robber who took it.”

“But still, why would he keep it?”

Yami gave a slight shrug. “I couldn’t answer that even if I tried, but I do know this,” Yami peaked out from under his hand to catch Anzu’s eye, “if he didn’t have the Millennium Eye, he wouldn’t have been able to summon Dark Necrofear and we would have been in more trouble than we were.” Anzu stared at him wide-eyed before sighing and nodding. “Besides,” Yami covered his eyes again, “I trust Bakura with the Millennium Eye and this way we know where it is.” Anzu nodded again before looking away again.

“You and Yugi still have the Millennium Ring right?” Anzu asked quietly, “I mean he did summon Dark Necrofear pretty easily without passing out or anything. I mean, so did you but you’re a lot older and more experienced with the Shadows.”

Yami peaked out to look at her again before sighing and gave her hand a squeeze again. “Anzu,” he said and didn’t continue until she looked at him, “Yes, we still have the Ring, we checked before we left. Anzu, after Battle City Bakura came over in the middle of the night, terrified, and asked the same question. He did the same thing for a few nights actually. He was having nightmares, horrible nightmares, he worried that the Tomb Robber was causing them. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case,” Yami sighed, “Turns out his little trip to the Shadow Realm had done more then we all thought it did.” Yami covered his eyes again, “That would be my guess that the Shadow Realm connected with him somehow.”

Anzu nodded. “You, you think he’ll be alright?” she asked quietly after a moment.

Yami took some time to think. “The Shadows tried to shield him before he was struck. I think … we should have faith in our friend that he will pull through.”

Anzu nodded before falling quiet to let Yami rest.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A trip to the Shadow Realm

 

Dark Magician made his way through the Shadow Realm to where Dark Sanctuary rested. The eyes around the castle stared at him and the mouths were closed and frowning as he made his way up the blood-red, crooked stairs. Once he reached the foreboding looking castle, he knocked on the door. One of the mouths’ frowns deepened.

A creature that looked like a Kuriboh but with darker coloring and duller eyes opened the door. Dark Magician raised an eyebrow since usually Wretched Ghost of the Attic stayed, well, in the attic.

“Wretched,” a voice from inside called out, “Who’s at the door?”

Wretched Ghost of the Attic opened the door wider to let those inside a view of the visitor. Dark Magician looked in to see Dark Necrofear sitting on a black throne in a room made of different shades of red surrounded by other fiend-type monsters. Her right arm was propped up on the armrest while her cheek rested on her fist and Doll sat beside her crossed legs as her left arm held it up. She also looked a cross between bored and irritated. Dark Magician also noticed that a Dark Pendant hung from her right wrist, in easy reach for when she wanted to use it but not in use now. Dark Magician had to admit she looked like the queen she was. He gulped.

“Ah,” she called from her throne, “Dark Magician, please, come in.” She raised her head from her fist and made a come closer motion with her right hand. Dark Magician nodded and made his way into the castle as Dark Necrofear sat up straighter and Wretched Ghost of the Attic shut the door behind him.

Dark Magician stopped a few steps from the throne and gave Dark Necrofear a slight bow, aware of all the eyes on him from all the other fiend monsters that called Dark Sanctuary’s castle their home or at least a common meeting ground. Dark Necrofear nodded and he raised his head. “Fair Queen of Fiends,” he stated in a clear, loud voice, “I wish for an audience with you.” Best to be respectful when in another’s territory. It was also best not to piss off the whole army of monsters that had gathered in the castle.

Dark Necrofear stared at him for a moment before smirking, which she hid behind her right hand as the smirk turned into a slight snicker. She dropped her arm back to the armrest. “You have your audience with me,” she said with a smirk as she tapped the armrest with a finger, she still hadn’t lost her smirk.

Dark Magician nodded. “I have information you may want to hear, from the park,” he said.

Dark Necorfear’s smirk fell and she straightened up again, face serious. She nodded and stood, picking up Doll in the process. “Follow me then,” she said as she made her way away from the throne, “I know somewhere we can talk in private.”

Dark Magician nodded and followed her. He followed her to a courtyard in what he supposed was the middle of the castle. He noticed that the courtyard was empty except for Change of Heart who was sitting on a bench in front of a fountain that, instead of water, was spewing purple fog. He also noticed that an Axe of Despair was propped up against the bench within easy reach.

Dark Necrofear made her way over to the magic card and Dark Magician followed. “Change,” she said. He watched as Change of Heart startled and turned to face them, it was then that he noticed that Change of Heart was holding a Kuriboh and petting it.

“Yes?” Change of Heart asked.

Dark Necorfear gestured towards Dark Magician, “He brings word of our Master.”

Change of Heart’s reaction was instantiations. Her eyes widened and in one quick motion, she threw Kuriboh aside and grabbed the Axe of Despair in the same motion. She rushed over to stand in front of them. Dark Magician noticed that the Kuriboh had made its way back into the castle.

“Is he alright? Are the others alright? Are the attackers dead? Do you think they’ll come back? Did the attackers escape? Is our Master alright?” Change of Heart fired off question after question rapidly, leaning more and more into Dark Magician’s space causing Dark Magician to lean back and away. He was relieved when Dark Necrofear placed her hand on Change of Heart’s shoulder, causing the other to blink and lean back a little. Change of Heart turned her attention to Dark Necrofear. “Necro?” she asked.

Dark Necrofear offered her a small smile. “Let’s sit, make it easier on our messenger,” she said as she patted Change of Heart’s shoulder. Dark Magician breathed a sigh of relief as Change of Heart nodded and backed off letting Dark Magician straighten up. Dark Necrofear lead Change of Heart back over to the bench she had been sitting on and they both sat, back to the fountain. Change of Heart put the Axe of Despair against the bench in easy reach.

Dark Magician made his way closer to the two but remained standing in front of them. He bowed, “Fair Queen Dark Necrofear, Lady Change of Heart,” he stopped at the sound of a huff of air and looked up. Change of Heart was looking at him with wide eyes and Dark Necrofear was hiding her mouth behind her hand as her shoulders shook with what Dark Magician suspected was mirth.

Dark Necrofear dropped her hand to run her fingers over Doll’s head. “Such titles of ‘Fair Queen’ and ‘Lady’ aren’t important in this courtyard or away from an audience,” she said before dropping her eyes and attention to Doll. “Besides, you saw me take your staff and bash those attackers’ heads and crack their skulls. Do you think that’s something a ‘Fair Queen’ would do?” she asked as she turned her attention back to Dark Magician, a dark smirk playing on her lips.

Dark Magician blinked and swallowed thickly. “I suppose not,” he said.

Dark Necrofear nodded before turning her attention back towards Doll. “Besides, I was angry and acting irrationally, far from a queen’s logic of fighting,” she said, meeting Dark Magician’s eyes as she said the last part.

Again, Dark Magician blinked at the look in her eye. It was a look that held a sadness, a look that said she had acted irrationally and put others in danger but was acting in her anger at the moment and didn’t realize her mistake until later. Honestly, though, Dark Magician couldn’t blame her. “I would have done the same,” he said honestly.

Dark Necrofear nodded and turned her attention fully to him. “So,” she said as she drew herself up again giving off the air of the queen that she was, “What news do you have for us?”

Dark Magician nodded. “The mother and daughter your Master was protecting were taken to the hospital, the child was knocked out, but she did hit the ground pretty hard, hence the hospital visit. The two young men you were fighting alongside were being treated on site for bruises and scrapes.” Here Dark Magician hesitated, “Those that you struck unconscious were also taken to the hospital with broken bones. Nice use of my staff by the way.”

Dark Necrofear smirked darkly at that and Change of Heart giggled slightly. “And I’ll gladly do it again if the situation arises,” Dark Necrofear said before she growled, “And if I ever find the one who struck my Master, she’ll wish she was never born.” Change of Heart nodded at this. “Please,” Dark Necrofear continued, “Go on, our Master?”

Dark Magician nodded, “Your Master was taken to the hospital, they don’t know what’s wrong with him, but his friend, Malik, went with him. He was still breathing when I left him.”

Dark Necrofear nodded. “I see,” she said, “Thank you for relaying this information to us. I know it couldn’t have been easy on your Master to have had you stay around longer than necessary. He has our thanks as well.” Change of Heart nodded in agreement. “You may leave now.”

Dark Magician nodded and turned to leave before pausing and turning back. “If the opportunity presents itself, I would like to fight with you again,” Dark Magician caught Change of Heart’s eye as she seemed to perk up at this statement. “Both of you, actually,” he revised.

Dark Necrofear shared a look with Change of Heart before looking back at their guest. “We would like that very much as well,” Dark Necrofear smiled.

Dark Magician nodded again and made his way out of the castle. As he made his way down the front steps, he noticed that the mouths seemed happier.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter new characters appear. I'm excited how about you?


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New characters come out to play.

 

Tsuzuki, Hisoka, Tatsumi, Konoe, and the blue-clad Gushoshin were in the meeting room. They all sat at the table except for Tatsumi who stood behind Konoe with a few file folders in his arms.

“Gushoshin, if you would start?” Konoe asked as he gestured at the Gushoshin who nodded.

“Of course,” the Gushoshin started up the projector to present the case, “There was an attack in a park in Domino City. Thankfully not many were hurt thanks to some quick-thinking park goers, but the attackers were wizards, and they were using Avada Kadava, more commonly known as the Killing Curse.” The Gushoshin clicked through the slides showing pictures of corpses, “As you can see the spell kills on contact. Except,” here the Gushoshin clicked to a picture of a person with long white hair in a hospital bed, “This young man, Bakura Ryou, hit with the spell but still living.”

“That’s where you two come in,” Konoe said, “I know it’s not your territory, but the Shinigami of the area are busy with another case. All I want you two to do is investigate why the kid didn’t die despite everyone else dying. Real easy, all it is is paperwork, nothing else, just a simple why and nothing else. His candle didn’t go out and his name isn’t on the register, just a simple in and out and you’re done. If it turns out that’s it’s something else, it’s not your problem, the Shinigami of the area will take over once their current case wraps up.”

“Why us?” Hisoka asked in a bored tone, it wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, it was just that he and Tsuzuki were on desk duty until he could master the spike his empathy had gotten when Yatonokami and Kurikara became his shikigami. As if to prove that he didn’t have his empathy under control yet he rubbed his temple as a headache started to develop.

Tatsumi handed out the files he was holding. “Bakura is currently unconscious and no one is sure when he’ll wake up.”

“So, you want Hisoka to use his empathy to find the answer,” Tsuzuki said as he opened his file.

Tatsumi nodded, “Precisely. And with the spike in his powers, it would be easier for him to get a read off the body despite it being unconscious.”

Hisoka nodded. “I see,” he said, “Go in, read the body, get out, do paperwork.”

Tatsumi nodded. “Will you be alright with that?”

Hisoka nodded. “I should be as long as he isn’t having a nightmare or something,” he sighed, “Though if he’s having a nightmare of what his body went through, I guess it could be helpful.”

“So,” Tsuzuki finally spoke up, “What’s going to happen to the kid after we find out …,” he made a hand motion with his hand, “whatever it is we’re supposed to find out?”

“Nothing actually,” Konoe said, “This mission is just information gathering, nothing else. There is no indication that he should be dead despite the spell being a known death sentence. If it’s a spell or something, we’ll have to know in case it does affect his death later in life.” Tsuzuki nodded as Hisoka read the file.

“When do we leave?” Tsuzuki asked as Hisoka stood and pushed his chair in.

Tatsumi smiled at the actions of the younger Shinigami. “Now, Tsuzuki,” was the prompt reply.

“But what about lunch?” Tsuzuki whined.

Hisoka glared at his partner. “You just ate,” he said as he grabbed his partner’s collar and dragged him out of his chair.

“But that was my mid-morning snack! That wasn’t lunch!” Tsuzuki whined as Hisoka dragged him out of the meeting room wanting to get this over and done with.

The three that remained in the meeting room had a small laugh at the violet-eyed Shinigami’s expense.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short, I know. I'll have another chapter out soon that will be longer but also because I won't be able to update next Thursday.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A hospital visit leads to an unexpected meeting and a game of twenty questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I'd have this out awhile ago but it's long and I got frustrated with the grammar checkers I was using so it took longer then I wanted it to, to check everything over. Plus I've been busy. I know lousy excuse but true. But hey, it's out now so all's good, no?

Hisoka and Tsuzuki walked down the hallway of the hospital Bakura Ryou was staying in, Tsuzuki dressed as an orderly while Hisoka walked beside him in his spirit form, Yatonokami had wrapped himself around Hisoka's upper left arm, draped behind his neck, then wrapped under his right armpit with his head resting on Hisoka’s right shoulder to help keep him emotionally stable. The plan was simple, Bakura’s friends visited him when they could but there was always at least one of them in the room up until visiting hours were over, Hisoka would keep an eye on the room and when the last friend left he’d call Tsuzuki to open the door so that he could sneak into the room, do the reading, Tsuzuki would open the door so that Hisoka could leave the room, then they would both leave the hospital. It was simple, no one would suspect a door opening if it was by an orderly checking on a patient after all.

Now though they had to wait.

They made it to Bakura’s room easily enough where Tsuzuki left Hisoka to stay by the door and wait while he made rounds waiting for when Hisoka called him to open the door for him.

Hisoka watched as friends came to visit. Three siblings, all tan, two males, one female. One male was bald except for a long ponytail at the back of his head and a tattoo on the side of his face. The other male had sand blond hair that reached his shoulders, wore gold, and was the shortest among the two. The lone female had long black hair accessorized with gold and whose height was the shortest among the three. The Ishtar siblings. Hisoka remembered them from the file, it had a list of all of Bakura’s visitors. Malik was the closest to Bakura and tended to stay the longest out of all the visitors since he had nowhere he really had to be.

Case in point, when the older siblings left, Malik stayed behind.

The next visitors where a young boy with long black hair and a tall teen with brown hair, dressed in a white trench coat, carrying a briefcase. The Kaiba brothers. They came later, usually around the last period of school, the elder Kaiba had permission to skip out due to work and the younger Kaiba was able to skip due to being tutored at home when he missed classes. The younger Kaiba usually dragged the elder to the hospital. They didn’t stay long and usually the younger Kaiba complained about wanting to stay longer. 

They usually left a little after the biggest group arrived.

Hisoka looked at the clock after a while, school had let out not that long ago so the last group would be arriving soon. Hisoka heard them before he saw them as they came around the corner.

They all wore school uniforms, except one female who dressed casually, having come straight from school. There were four males and two females, three of the males were around the same height, one with long black hair tied up in a ponytail, one with blond hair, and the last had dark brown hair. The last male was the shortest among the group with tricolored hair that stood up in spikes. Of the two females, one had long, light brown hair, she was the casually dressed one, and the other female had short, dark brown hair. Friends from school. They usually tried to stay as long as they could, sometimes even being shooed out by staff when visiting hours ended.

They entered the room, Hisoka heard raised voices of some sort, an argument possibly, then the Kaiba brothers left, the elder first and the younger hung back to say his goodbyes before following after his brother. Hisoka rubbed his temples as the agitation that seeped off the elder Kaiba and out of the room hit him. Even with Yatonokami’s close proximity couldn’t completely hold off the strong emotion.

Hisoka made his way over to a drinking fountain across from him as he pulled out an individual dose of aspirin. He opened the packet, popped the pills in his mouth, then took a drink from the fountain to wash them down. He stuck the empty packet back in his pocket and made his way back to his post. Hospitals were full of strong, headache-inducing emotions so popping a few aspirin now to stray off a headache could only help in the long run, Hisoka reasoned.

He waited for the other visitors to leave. First Jonouchi and his sister left. Honda and Otogi left a few minutes later in some sort of debate that Hisoka couldn’t be bothered to listen to. Last but not least the last Ishtar, Mazaki and Muto left about a half-hour before visiting hours ended.

Hisoka let out a relieved sigh before closing his eyes and reached out emotionally to Tsuzuki. Once he made contact he let his thoughts trickle across Tsuzuki’s mind. _‘They left,’_ he thought to the other. He smirked slightly when he felt Tsuzuki jump at the sudden thought that wasn’t his. He pulled back his emotions and waited.

Tsuzuki came down the hallway a few minutes later and opened Bakura’s door in a way that would let Hisoka slip into the room under his arm but to anyone else he just looked like he was checking on the patient inside.

“You’re sure they all have left?” Tsuzuki whispered as Hisoka slipped under his arm.

Hisoka paused at the threshold of the room and nodded. “Yeah, the last three left a few minutes ago,” he said as he slipped fully into the room, “I’ll call you when I’m done.” Tsuzuki nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

Hisoka looked around the room, it was a single and the room was quiet except for the machines monitoring Bakura. There was a window and a few chairs, one of which that was right next to the bed. He made his way over to the bed, more specifically the chair that had been pulled up next to the bed. He noticed a deck of cards on the bedside table, they had a yellowish-orange border surrounding brown with a black oval in the middle, he blinked but paid them no mind after that. He turned to the teen in the bed. With his white hair and pale skin, he practically blended into the white sheets of the bed. He then noticed under the teen’s left hand, the hand closest to him rested two cards. The top card read ‘Change of Heart’ and had a greenish-blue background with a black border and a picture of a half-demon half-angel on it. The other card he couldn’t describe as well since it was underneath but what he could make out was the same black border, an orange background, a picture that he couldn’t see very well, and the word ‘Dark’ at the top. Across from him, under Bakura’s right hand, rested something round and gold but that’s all he could see of the item.

Hisoka shrugged, they didn’t have to do with what he was here for, so he didn’t bother with them. He pulled the chair behind him closer to the bed in case he collapsed and rolled his shoulders. He took a deep breath and held out his left hand, palm down, fingers splayed over Bakura’s heart. He closed his eyes as he reached out with his empathy towards the body only to frown when no response was forthcoming. He lowered his hand until it rested on the body. He kept his breathing steady as outside emotions faded away and he was able to completely connect his empathy to the body under his hand.

The vessel was empty but not, the soul was there but it was more like a person had stepped out onto the back porch and the door was open, within shouting range if they needed to step back in. The body was fighting to keep going, Hisoka could feel it. He could feel the spell too. It was angry, it couldn’t finish what it was supposed to do. How could one finish the job when body and soul were not connected as they should be and the spell was to end them both. It couldn’t do half a job, it was in limbo. The body knew this and was keeping the soul safe, tucked away. This was not new for the body and soul, they had been this way before. Separated but not.

Hisoka was brought back to his own body at the sound of Yatonokami hissing at something, loudly and angrily, right by his ear. He looked at the snake only to realize that the snake was looking at something by his other side and now that he wasn’t focusing on Bakura he could ‘hear’, though it was more a kind of sensing, what the other was saying.

“Don’t touch what’ssss mine! Ssssstay back! Keep your handsssss off what’sssss mine!” Yatonokami hissed.

Hisoka blinked before turning his head the other way, to see what Yatonokami was hissing at. Standing beside him was Muto, his right wrist and forearm entangled in the snake’s tail. He seemed to be trying to untangle himself from the snake with his left hand to no avail. Hisoka blinked. Muto seemed different from the last time Hisoka saw him, Muto seemed taller and he sensed a certain confidence from him that he hadn’t felt earlier.

Hisoka blinked again. From what he could gather Muto had probably been reaching out to touch him and when Yatonokami had noticed, used his tail to keep the other from touching Hisoka to avoid an emotional overload. Hisoka was thankful for that but what he wondered, though he didn’t show it, was how was the other able to see him? He should have been invisible to all except the dying and dead, both of which Muto wasn’t, or so he had thought. But then why hadn’t Muto seen him in the hallway? 

He pulled back his hand and, without a direct connection to anything, his empathy reached out to the surrounding environment. This included the person standing beside him who didn’t seem to notice that Hisoka was staring at him as he tried to pry Yatonokami off of his arm still. Hisoka focused his empathy on the room’s newest occupant. Frustrated, annoyed, confident, regal, and … Hisoka’s eyes widened slightly, ancient. If Hisoka had to guess, he’d say that Muto was being possessed but it didn’t seem demonic. He blinked. Did Muto know he was being possessed or was he being suppressed? 

Well, there was a way to find out.

Hisoka cleared his throat and the reactions were instant. Muto’s head snapped up to finally look at him and Yatonokami stopped hissing and looked up as well. But the fact that the room had gone quiet was lost on Hisoka who was finally able to get a good look at the other. Blond now ran through the black spikes of hair, his features were sharper, and his eyes held a red hue instead of just pure violet.

It was the eyes that Hisoka focused on, they really were the window to the soul and through them, Hisoka could see that while Muto was being possessed it wasn’t forceful but mutual. This … ancient being was welcome in the body it inhabited. Hisoka blinked when he realized he was being addressed.

“What were you doing to Bakura?” the other asked.

Hisoka’s eyes widened before he blinked a few times, this being sounding like Tsuzuki when he was angry. He turned his attention to the teen in the bed as he put his hands in his pockets. He really didn’t have to answer, it was none of the other’s business after all. He just gave the other a noncommittal shrug as an answer.

Hosoka heard the other growl before Yatonokami hissed then the other hissed himself as Yatonokami tightened his grip on the other’s arm. Hisoka looked at the ancient being out of the corner of his eye as he again engaged in trying to detangle Yatonokami from his arm. He looked over the door at the clock. “Shouldn’t you be leaving?” he asked, “It’s past visiting hours.”

The other blinked at him before looking back at the clock, Yatonokami forgotten for the moment. He turned back to Hisoka, “I could say the same to you,” he said.

Hisoka just shrugged before turning his attention back to Bakura. He just wanted to finish this job, do his paperwork, and be done for the day, maybe pick up a book to read on his way home.

“Are you with the people from the park?”

Hisoka looked back at the other with a raised eyebrow. “The park?” The other nodded. “No, I’m not.”

“How can I know that for sure?”

Hisoka blinked slowly at that. Honestly, there was no way to prove it but then again, “What is your relationship with Muto Yugi that allows you to possess him so easily?” 

The other’s eyes widened and he flinched backward which might have been a full step or two if Yatonokami didn’t have a tight grip on the other’s arm. Yatonokami watched the ancient being with interest now. “Interessssssting,” he hissed out. Hisoka used his left hand to pet the side of the snake’s neck before putting his hand back in his pocket. Hisoka watched as the other seemed to deflate a little, he even felt the other trying to look for an exit from the awkward situation he now found himself in without making it obvious.

Hisoka felt the other’s internal struggle for a few more moments before he sighed and drew the other’s attention back to him. With his left hand he gestured to the seats across from him on the other side of the bed. “Shall we sit and talk, or will you let me finish up here?” The other blinked at him before showing off his right arm, or, more specifically, the snake wrapped around it. Hisoka nodded and patted the side of Yatonokami’s neck twice. “Release,” he said. Yatonokami gave Hisoka a look, then the ancient being, then Hisoka again who nodded.

Yatonokami gave the equivalent of a snort before tossing the other’s arm aside and wrapping his tail back around Hisoka’s upper arm. Hisoka watched as the other stumbled slightly before rubbing his arm, glaring at the snake the whole time who had already lost interest in the other now that he wasn’t trying to touch Hisoka.

The ancient being made his way over to the chair Hisoka had gestured to earlier without breaking eye contact with Hisoka the whole way even as he sat down. Hisoka blinked but sat down as well. Hisoka noticed the other’s body language, sitting tall and regally in the chair across from him. He just pulled his hands out of his pockets, rested his elbows on the armrests, letting his left-hand rest in his lap and used his right fist to rest his cheek on, giving the other a bored look the whole time. “Well,” Hisoka said, “Are you going to talk or not?” The other’s eyebrow twitched. Hisoka sighed and turned his attention to Bakura’s face, showing his disinterest with the other clear as day. The other’s eyebrow twitched again.

“How would you like to play a game?” the other asked, Hisoka’s attention was slowly pulled back to the other.

Yatonokami, however, was laughing at the suggestion. “Play a game? Issss he mad? To play a game with a ssssshinigami issss a ssssure way to losssse,” he laughed merrily, “Death issss the end of all after all. The true winner in the game of life.” Yatonokami snorted. “Thissss sssshould be fun.”

Hisoka rested his index and middle fingers on Yatonokami’s head. “Enough, don’t be rude,” he said. Yatonokami shrugged but settled down on his shoulder again. “What kind of game?” he asked as he turned his attention back to the other.

“20 questions? The first one to lie loses,” the other suggested, “After we each ask 20 questions, we go our separate ways, it is after visiting hours after all.”

“And if one of us lies?”

The other smirked and Hisoka was sure the temperature in the room dropped slightly, not physically maybe but it was something in the atmosphere of the room that had changed. “They play a penalty game.”

Hisoka watched the other, even focused his empathy on the other. He could not feel any ill intentions from the other despite the smirk and the temperature drop, just concern for his friend and a want to protect him. “No,” he said and the other’s eyes widened, “The winner will determine their fate.”

The other blinked before nodding. “Alright,” he agreed, “I’ll go first.” Hisoka nodded. “Why are you here?”

“To do a job.”

The other sat up straighter, “That wasn’t an answer.”

Hisoka shrugged. “But it was the truth, so it counts. My turn. How old are you?”  
“3,000 years old.”

Hisoka blinked and felt out the other. It wasn’t a lie, but the answer had a fog about it, as if the one saying it wasn’t completely sure but gave the best answer he could. He nodded.

“Who are you?”

“An empath,” he said, he could sense the other’s frustration, but he was being honest, if vague. He watched the other nod his acceptance of Hisoka’s answer before posing his question. “Why are you possessing Muto Yugi?”

The other shrugged. “I am not sure exactly,” he said, “My best answer to that would be destiny.” Again, Hisoka sensed that the other was telling the truth, he nodded. “Are you with those from the park, the ones that attacked us?”

“No,” at the other’s nod Hisoka proposed his question. “Have you ever killed anyone?” It was a strange question, maybe, but the drop in temperature and the feeling he got at the smirk of the thought of a ‘penalty game’, was a sure sign of darkness but it definitely was not as dark as Muraki’s darkness.

The other hesitated before he answered slowly as if he didn’t want to admit it. “I have played a few games that have ended in the death of the other player, yes.” 

Hisoka felt out the other’s answer. It was the truth but the other took no pleasure in this answer. He regretted it. Now, at least he regretted it. There had been a change in him from the time of the game until now. Hisoka nodded.

“Have you ever killed anyone?” the other asked.

Hisoka was truthful in his answer and unlike the other gave his answer quickly, like a bandage being ripped off, “Yes.” The other’s eyes widened before they relaxed again and the other nodded for Hisoka to ask his question. “Why did you play those games?”

“Those I played against hurt and threatened my friends and me, they crossed lines they shouldn’t’ve. I simply exposed their souls to the world. The verdicts that fell upon them were fair.” Again, Hisoka could not detect a lie and nodded. “Why did you kill?”

“I was asked to.” The other blinked before slowly nodding. “What’s it like being dead?” Hisoka could tell he caught the other off guard with his question and while he himself was dead he was curious what the other thought of being dead. Everyone had their own opinions after all, including Shinigami.

“Uh,” the other had to take his time to think about his answer, “Well, … hmm,” he tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair. Hisoka was content to give the other all the time he needed to figure out his answer. The other worried his lip with his teeth and even broke eye contact with Hisoka as he thought. Hisoka didn’t bother the other as he tried to come up with an answer, instead, he read the other’s emotions. Uncertainty, regret, confusion, thankfulness, fear, a strive towards finding answers yet a fear of what those answers would bring, a quest to rest and yet a fear of what the end of that quest would bring.

Hisoka nodded. “Your question,” he said as the other’s head snapped to look at Hisoka.

“I-I didn’t answer your question,” he stuttered out. Hisoka could sense a fear from the other at not verbally answering the question.

“You did, honestly I might add,” Hisoka said, “You didn’t break any rules.” He gestured for the other to ask his question.

The other nodded. “Did,” he swallowed thickly and cleared his throat, “Did you regret it? Killing a person, I mean.” He made eye contact with Hisoka again as he finished his question.

Hisoka blinked and took a deep breath. He looked at his hands, remembered crying on Tsuzuki’s shoulder, scrubbing at his hands to rid them of the blood until the only blood on them was his own from rubbing them raw, waking up from nightmares and running to the bathroom to wash his hands of blood that was no longer there except in his mind. He turned his attention back to the other, staring him right in the eye. “Yes, I regret it,” he knew what being a Shinigami would entail, that did not, however, mean he wouldn’t be affected by it. The other stared at him for a few moments before nodding. “What do others call you?”

The other blinked at the question, taken aback by it, even saying it quietly to himself as if by doing so would reveal the reason Hisoka had asked such a question. “People have called me many things, Mou hitori no boku, Yami, Pharaoh,” the other shrugged, “King of Games though that is more of a shared title. Why do you ask?” Then the other winced as he realized that he had just unintentionally asked a question without meaning to.

Hisoka shrugged, “It helps to have a name unless you prefer I refer to you as the ancient spirit possessing Muto.” The ancient pharaoh winced but nodded at the answer. “Speaking of Muto, does he know about the dark games you once played?”

Yami winced. “No, he does not,” he said, “At least not to my knowledge and I have no intention of telling him.” Hisoka nodded. Yami presented his next question, “Why didn’t you ask me if I regretted killing someone?”

Hisoka shrugged, “It would have been a waste of a question.” He sighed then rolled his shoulders, “I already told you I’m an empath, I felt your regret when I asked if you had ever killed someone. Same when I asked what it’s like being dead, but you didn’t give an answer, yet I said you did.” Hisoka smirked, “Your emotions were answer enough and they were honest.”

“That’s how you’re able to tell if I’m lying or not.”

Hisoka smirked. “I thought it was my turn.”

Yami chuckled before gesturing for Hisoka to ask his question. He tapped the armrest with his finger as he thought about his question. “How are you able to tell if I’m lying or not?”

Yami’s eyes widened slightly at that and Hisoka could tell that he didn’t want to reveal too much but also didn’t want to lose, which would mean lying. So, the question now was how much would he reveal? Hisoka sat back in his chair as he waited for the other’s answer. “Well,” Yami took a deep breath, “I’m able to use a type of magic, this same magic I used in my games. … It knows the difference between the winners and losers of games and if anyone should cheat.” Hisoka nodded, that answer was vague but truthful. Yami sighed before drawing himself back up. “What is your name?”

“Kurosaki,” when Yami made no move to acknowledge that Hisoka was telling the truth, he smirked, “You never asked for my whole name.” Yami frowned but nodded. “What’s with the leather?”

Yami blinked as he mouthed the question to himself. “I like it, gives off a tough feel. Are you even taking these questions seriously?” Yami blinked then groaned as he realized that he had again asked a question without meaning to.

Hisoka just blinked. “When we started no one said we had to take it seriously so, I’m just asking questions, seriously or not is up to me.” Yami just stared at him before blinking and nodding. “What do you enjoy doing in your free time?”

“I enjoy playing Duel Monsters and other games.” Hisoka raised an eyebrow at the answer but it was true. 

With a little more probing he was able to see a familiar stack of cards. He looked over at the bedside table, more specifically the deck of cards there. “Ah,” he said as he turned back to the other with a nod.

“What do you enjoy in your free time?”

“I enjoy reading.” At Yami’s nod, Hisoka asked his next question, “Personally, why are you here? In this hospital. Not _Muto’s_ reason, _your_ reason for being here.”

“Bakura is,” Yami paused and Hisoka could sense that the reason he was about to give wasn’t the answer to the question he had asked. He watched as Yami tapped his fingers against the armrest as he worried his lip with his teeth. Hisoka could again sense the reluctance to give a full, truthful answer while at the same time being vague enough to not reveal anything. “I’m worried about Bakura. There is an item that is attracted to him that houses a dark spirit. Since Bakura is now weakened I feared that the item would make its way back to him and take over his body. So, as his friend, I’m worried about him, but,” Yami sighed and turned his eyes to where his hands rested in his lap, “as one of the few that can take down the dark spirit if it should rear its ugly head, I feel obligated to keep an eye out for it, especially since I have failed in that area of protection many times before.”

Yami felt horrible for admitting such a thing but Hisoka sensed the truth in his answer and nodded though Yami didn’t see it. “I’m a horrible person aren’t I?” Yami asked.

Hisoka blinked. “There is no easy answer to that question,” he said before taking a deep breath, “We want to keep those we care about safe but in doing so we hurt them because we don’t know how to keep them safe, or we push them away because we don’t know how to keep them safe and think we’re doing the right thing.”

Yami thought about the answer before nodding slowly before lifting his head to look Hisoka in the eye again. “Thanks,” he said glumly.

Hisoka nodded. “You’re welcome. Are you enjoying this game?”

Yami snorted, “Honestly? It depends on the question but yes, it’s a decent way to pass the time.” Hisoka nodded. “Are you hoping to catch me in a lie?” Yami asked.

“No,” Hisoka answered, “Like you said this is a way to pass the time and I’m in no rush.” Yami nodded.

“Is there a question you fear I’ll ask that you won’t be able to give a truthful answer to?” Hisoka asked.

Yami thought for a moment, “Yes, some things are private.” At Hisoka’s nod he proposed his own question, “Is there anything you would like to keep private?”

“Yes,” a nod, “Is there anything you would like to forget?”

“Yes, but at the same time no,” Yami answered, “I would prefer to not repeat the same mistakes if I was to somehow forget certain things.” Hisoka nodded. “Is there anything you would like to forget?”

Hisoka opened his mouth only to close it again. He took a few moments before he answered, “I would like to say yes but no, there is nothing I would like to forget, bury definitely but not entirely forget despite what they are.” Yami stared at him for a few moments before nodding. Hisoka had to think about his next question, “If I asked you to tell me the truth, and nothing but the truth, could you not?”

Yami frowned and bristled at the question. “That's a trick question,” he accused.

Hisoka shrugged but said nothing else, he knew it was a trick question and either way the other answered could be seen as a lie, but he did have a job to do and the sooner he could do it the better.

“There is no answer to your question without telling a lie,” Yami said, “If I say yes I’d be telling the truth but you could accuse me of lying since the true question is looking for a lie but if I was to say no I’d be answering the question truthfully but not telling the truth.”

Hisoka shrugged, “But what is your answer?” he asked. “That was an explanation but not an answer.”

Yami grit his teeth and grabbed the armrests of the chair tightly. “Yes,” Yami growled out and before Hisoka could say something he cut him off, “Since you have won what is my punishment since that was the terms of our agreement.”

Hisoka rolled his eyes and settled back into his chair. He took a quick glance at the clock before looking back at Yami who seemed to be looking more at Hisoka’s nose then into his eyes. Hisoka could feel his frustration and slight anger rolling off of him. “As much fun as this has been I do have a job to do and it’s getting late,” Hisoka said, “I had to cut our game short.” He shrugged and sat up straighter. “But,” he continued, “I have no idea what's going to happen to me during this next part so your punishment is to just stick around until I leave.”

Yami was shocked by this but before he could say anything Hisoka cut him off, “I mean your friend no harm but I’d prefer not to be interrupted as I go about my job and you could prevent anyone from doing that. And if an orderly with violet eyes and brown hair comes to the room just tell him you’re keeping an eye out for me.”

“That’s all?” Yami asked.

Hisoka nodded. “Yatonokami can keep an eye on me but we both saw how well that went when no one other than me can understand him,” Hisoka said petting the snake on the head. He didn’t mention the fact that no one could see him, and he didn’t want anyone to stumble upon him accidentally while he was working.

Yami nodded. “Alright,” he said, “You really mean Bakura no harm?”

Hisoka nodded. “All my job entails is to look into Bakura’s state of being,” he said. “A task made easy with my empathy. It allows me to connect with others, even when they are unconscious, like he is now,” Hisoka said as he gestured to the teen in the bed with his head. He sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s actually what I was doing when you walked in. Though I was having some trouble, you see, for some reason, his body and soul aren’t connected as they should be,” he said then he gestured to Yami with his hand as his other hand dropped down to his lap, “That is where you and the game's outcome come in.” Hisoka’s hand fell into his lap to join the other. “I’m going to try something risky and try another point of connection that is stronger. I don’t know what will happen and having an extra set of eyes on what I’m doing never hurts. An anchor, if you will, to keep me grounded here so I don’t completely lose myself to your friend’s self.”

Yami’s eyes widened. “That can happen?” he asked.

Hisoka nodded, “It is a possibility that I become so overcome by your friend’s emotions that I lose myself. Though, I am careful and have defenses to keep that from happening,” Hisoka shrugged, “Doesn’t mean that it won’t though.”

Yami nodded slowly. “I think I understand,” he said as he folded his hands together and sat back.

Hisoka nodded, the other was still slightly confused but was confident in the thought that he understood. “And besides,” Hisoka said as he pet the side of Yatonokami’s neck, “Yatonokami will be here to help if things become too much. He knows what to do to bring me back and how not to let me fall in too deep.” He felt Yami relax slightly at the reassurance that he wouldn’t be the only one keeping an eye on him.

Hisoka moved the chair he was in closer to the head of the bed. He rested his left arm on the bed as he leaned forward with his right hand stretched out and fingers splayed towards Bakura’s forehead. Yatonokami slipped down his right arm and fell down onto the bed. At the loss of connection to another being the emotions surrounding him were able to sink into him easier. He felt a sharp spike in emotions. Fright, confusion, and concern being the most prominent. Hisoka turned towards Yami who was leaning forward with wide eyes.

“What are you doing?” Yami demanded.

Hisoka sighed but made no move to sit back. “I already told you,” Hisoka sighed, “I’m trying a point of connection that is stronger. The head and back of the neck are usually strongest since they have a direct connection to the brain. If the contact was forehead to forehead, I might become far too overwhelmed. My palm should be enough for this.” Yami nodded slowly and sat back in his chair even slower. Hisoka nodded as well and placed his hand on Bakura’s forehead.

The reaction was instantaneous. Hisoka fell forward onto the bed, his left arm acting as a pillow.

^^

Yami watched as the other fainted. He turned his attention to Yatonokami who raised his head to rub against Kurosaki’s head. “Is this normal?” he asked.

The snake raised his head to look over at Yami. He flicked out his tongue before nodding and settling back down on the bed.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you noticed any issues, please let me know, thank you.


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